Cell mediated immune response assay with enhanced sensitivity

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates generally to the field of immunological-based diagnostic assays including an assay to measure cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness. The present disclosure teaches diagnosis of a subject&#39;s exposure to an antigen based on cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness with enhanced sensitivity. The assay contemplated herein is capable of integration into standard pathology architecture to provide a diagnostic reporting system and to facilitate point of care clinical management.

FILING DATA

This application is associated with and claims priority from U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/502,811, filed on 29 Jun. 2011,entitled “A cell mediated immune response assay with enhancedsensitivity”, the entire contents of which, are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to the field of immunological-baseddiagnostic assays including an assay to measure cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness. The present disclosure teaches diagnosis of asubject's exposure to an antigen based on cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness with enhanced sensitivity. The assay contemplatedherein is capable of integration into standard pathology architecture toprovide a diagnostic reporting system and to facilitate point of careclinical management.

BACKGROUND

Bibliographic details of the publications referred to by author in thisspecification are collected alphabetically at the end of thedescription.

Reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should notbe taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this priorart forms part of the common general knowledge in any country.

Immunological-based diagnostic assays are important tools in detecting avariety of disease conditions. The effectiveness of these types ofassays lies in part in the specificity of components within the immunesystem. Notwithstanding this specificity, immunological-baseddiagnostics are not necessarily always sensitive enough to detect lowgrade infection or the presence of a persistent low level infection orin subjects with active or latent infectious disease states. There is aneed to develop diagnostic assays with enhanced sensitivity in relationto cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness.

One form of immunological-based diagnostic assay involves thestimulation of T-cells within antigens or mitogens in either isolatedcell culture or in whole blood culture followed by the detection ofeffector molecules such as cytokines produced by the stimulated T-cells(also referred to as effector T-cells). The effector molecules aregenerally detected using techniques such as enzyme immunoassays,multiplex bead analysis, ELISpot and flow cytometry. Such assays areuseful for detecting disease-specific T-cell responses. An example of aT-cell assay is QuantiFERON (Registered Trademark; Cellestis Limited).Another assay employs 15mer peptide antigens to stimulate T-cells.However, peptides of this length, whilst capable of being detected byCD4⁺ T-cells, are too long to be detected by CD8⁺ T-cells.

The ability to quickly assess cell-mediated immunity and with a highdegree of sensitivity is of clinical importance. This is particularlythe case with immune system compromised patients. A clinician needs tohave an appreciation of the development of a disease state and itseffect on the host's immune system.

There is a need, however, to improve the sensitivity of assays ofcell-mediated immunoresponsiveness in a subject.

SUMMARY

Enabled herein is a method for detecting a cell-mediated immune responsein a subject, the method comprising incubating lymphocytes from thesubject with peptides derived from a protein antigen, the peptidescomprising a combination of a set of peptides each about 7 to 14 aminoacids in length and a set of peptides greater than 15 amino acids inlength which encompasses all or part of the protein antigen, and thenscreening for levels of effector molecules produced by activatedlymphocytes.

By “about 7 to 14 amino acids” means 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 aminoacids. This is considered herein a first set of peptides. By “greaterthan 15 amino acids” means from 16 to the entire length of the proteinantigen including from 16 to 50 amino acids. This is considered a secondset of peptides. The present method is not to be limited to which set ofpeptides is referred to as first or second. Each set comprises from atleast one peptide to a series of over lapping peptides.

The co-incubation of the 7 to 14 amino acid peptides and the greaterthan 15 amino acid peptides derived from the protein antigen with thelymphocytes results in a more sensitive assay, enabling earlierdetection of lymphocyte stimulation than would otherwise be possible.The increased sensitivity includes at least a 10% increased detection ofeffector molecules compared to co-incubation with a single peptide inthe 7 to 14 amino acid range or >15 amino acid range derived from theantigen or the whole antigen itself. The ability to increase thesensitivity of a cell-mediated immune response assay also enables lesssensitive means of detection of effector molecules. Furthermore, themagnitude of the cell-mediated immune response detected in the assaypresently disclosed can be correlated to the disease state, progressionand/or severity. Hence, the present disclosure teaches an assay of acell-mediate immunoresponsiveness in a subject.

Without limiting the present invention to any one theory or mode ofaction, the two sets of peptides, the 7 to 14mer peptides and >15merpeptides enables detection by both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cells. The CD4⁺T-cells recognize the >15 mer peptides and CD8⁺ T-cells recognize the 7to 14 mer peptides. These peptides may be referred to herein as “CD4⁺peptides” (>15 mer peptides) or “CD8⁺ peptides” (7 to 14 mer peptides).

A method for measuring cell-mediated immune response activity in asubject is therefore provided herein, the method comprising contactinglymphocytes from the subject with at least two sets of peptides, a firstset comprising one or more peptides of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising one or more peptides offrom 16 amino acids or greater which encompass all or part of a proteinantigen and measuring the presence or elevation in the level of animmune effector molecule from immune cells wherein the presence or levelof the immune effector molecule is indicative of the level ofcell-mediated responsiveness of the subject to the antigen.

Usefully, the subject is a human and the sample is undiluted wholeblood. Alternatively, the sample is whole blood which comprises fromabout 10% to 100% by volume of the sample to be assayed or comprisesfrom about 50% to 100% by volume of the sample to be assayed orcomprises from about 80% to 100% by volume of the sample to be assayed.The sample volume may be in microliter or milliliter amounts such asfrom 0.5 μl to 5 ml. Conveniently, the whole blood is collected in atube comprising heparin and the immune effector molecule is IFN-γ.Generally, the immune effectors are detected with antibodies specificfor same such as using ELISA or an ELISpot.

The subject may have an infection by a pathogenic agent selected fromMycobacterium species such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis or tuberculosis(TB), Staphylococcus species, Streptococcus species, Borrelia species,Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Clostridium species, Shigellaspecies, Proteus species, Bacillus species, Herpes virus, Hepatitis B orC virus and Human immune deficiency virus (HIV) or a disease resultingtherefrom.

The subject may alternatively have a disease condition selected fromCeliac's disease, autoimmune diabetes, alopecia areata, ankylosingspondylitis, antiphospholipid syndrome, autoimmune Addison's diseasemultiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease of the adrenal gland, autoimmunehemolytic anemia, autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune oophoritis andorchitis, Behcet's disease, bullous pemphigoid, cardiomyopathy, celiacsprue-dermatitis, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFIDS), chronic inflammatorydemyelinating, chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, Churg-Strausssyndrome, cicatricial pemphigoid, crest syndrome, cold agglutinindisease, Crohn's disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, discoid lupus,essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, fibromyalgia, glomerulonephritis,Grave's disease, Guillain-Barre, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, idiopathicpulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), IgAnephropathy, insulin dependent diabetes (Type I), lichen planus, lupus,Meniere's disease, mixed connective tissue disease, multiple sclerosis,myasthenia gravis, myocarditis, pemphigus vulgaris, pernicious anemia,polyarteritis nodosa, polychondritis, polyglancular syndromes,polymyalgia rheumatica, polymyositis and dermatomyositis, primaryagammaglobulinemia, primary biliary cirrhosis, psoriasis, Raynaud'sphenomenon, Reiter's syndrome, rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arrthritis,sarcoidosis, scleroderma, Sjogren's syndrome, stiff-man syndrome,systemic lupus erythematosus, Takayasu arteritis, temporalarteritis/giant cell arteritis, ulcerative colitis, uveitis, vasculitis,vitiligo and inflammatory bowel disease.

The subject may alternatively have a cancer selected from ABL1protooncogene, AIDS related cancers, acoustic neuroma, acute lymphocyticleukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia, adenocystic carcinoma,adrenocortical cancer, agnogenic myeloid metaplasia, alopecia, alveolarsoft-part sarcoma, anal cancer, angiosarcoma, aplastic anaemia,astrocytoma, ataxia-telangiectasia, basal cell carcinoma (skin), bladdercancer, bone cancers, bowel cancer, brain stem glioma, brain and CNStumors, breast cancer, CNS tumors, carcinoid tumors, cervical cancer,childhood brain tumors, childhood cancer, childhood leukaemia, childhoodsoft tissue sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, choriocarcinoma, chroniclymphocytic leukaemia, chronic myeloid leukaemia, colorectal cancers,cutaneous T-Cell lymphoma, dermatofibrosarcoma-protuberans,desmoplastic-small-round-cell-tumor, ductal carcinoma, endocrinecancers, endometrial cancer, ependymoma, esophageal cancer, Ewing'ssarcoma, extra-hepatic bile duct cancer, eye cancer, eye: melanoma,retinoblastoma, fallopian tube cancer, fanconi anemia, fibrosarcoma,gall bladder cancer, gastric cancer, gastrointestinal cancers,gastrointestinal-carcinoid-tumor, genitourinary cancers, germ celltumors, gestational-trophoblastic-disease, glioma, gynaecologicalcancers, hematological malignancies, hairy cell leukaemia, head and neckcancer, hepatocellular cancer, hereditary breast cancer, histiocytosis,Hodgkin's disease, human papillomavirus, hydatidiform mole,hypercalcemia, hypopharynx cancer, intraocular melanoma, islet cellcancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, kidney cancer, Langerhan's-cell-histiocytosis,laryngeal cancer, leiomyosarcoma, leukemia, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, lipcancer, liposarcoma, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphedema, lymphoma,Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, male breast cancer,malignant-rhabdoid-tumor-of-kidney, medulloblastoma, melanoma, merkelcell cancer, mesothelioma, metastatic cancer, mouth cancer, multipleendocrine neoplasia, mycosis fungoides, myelodysplastic syndromes,myeloma, myeloproliferative disorders, nasal cancer, nasopharyngealcancer, nephroblastoma, neuroblastoma, neurofibromatosis, nijmegenbreakage syndrome, non-melanoma skin cancer,non-small-cell-lung-cancer-(NSCLC), ocular cancers, oesophageal cancer,oral cavity cancer, oropharynx cancer, osteosarcoma, ostomy ovariancancer, pancreas cancer, paranasal cancer, parathyroid cancer, parotidgland cancer, penile cancer, peripheral-neuroectodermal-tumors,pituitary cancer, polycythemia vera, prostate cancer,rare-cancers-and-associated-disorders, renal cell carcinoma,retinoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Rothmund-Thomson syndrome, salivarygland cancer, sarcoma, schwannoma, Sezary syndrome, skin cancer, smallcell lung cancer (SCLC), small intestine cancer, soft tissue sarcoma,spinal cord tumors, squamous-cell-carcinoma-(skin), stomach cancer,synovial sarcoma, testicular cancer, thymus cancer, thyroid cancer,transitional-cell-cancer-(bladder),transitional-cell-cancer-(renal-pelvis-/-ureter), tropho-blastic cancer,urethral cancer, urinary system cancer, uroplakins, uterine sarcoma,uterus cancer, vaginal cancer, vulva cancer,Waldenstrom's-macroglobulinemia and Wilms' tumor.

The subject may alternatively be exposed to a protein toxicant.

In the above aspects, the antigen is a protein derived from thepathogenic agent associated with the disease condition or cancer or is atoxicant.

A method is also provided of allowing a user to determine the status ofcell-mediated immunoresponsiveness of a subject, the method including:

(a) receiving data in the form of levels or concentrations of an immuneeffector molecule which, relative to a control, provide a correlation asto the state of cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness in a subject, via acommunications network, the immune effector molecule measured afterexposure of lymphocytes to at least two sets of peptides, a first setcomprising one or more peptides of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising one or more peptides offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen;

(b) processing the data via univariate or multivariate analysis toprovide an immunoresponsiveness value;

(c) determining the status of the subject in accordance with the resultsof the immunoresponsiveness value in comparison with predeterminedvalues; and

(d) transferring an indication of the status of the subject to the uservia the communications network.

In an embodiment, the tuberculosis antigen is CFP10, ESAT-6, TB7.7 orTB37.6.

In an embodiment, the subject is infected with HIV. In an embodiment,the lymphocytes are contacted with a combination of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺peptides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a graphical representation in the form of a histogram showingmean responses to QFN-TB or QFN-TB plus one of the three pools in allevaluable subjects (n=41). Mean values with standard error of the meanare shown. A significant increase in the response was observed with theaddition of all of the peptide pools (P<0.001) [Friedman test with aDunn's multiple comparison test]. The QFN-TB assay contained CD4⁺peptides and a pool of 10 mer peptides (CD8⁺ peptides).

FIG. 2 is a graphical representation of IFN-γ responses in a QFT-CMVassay comprising 16 mer peptides for CMV pp65 antigen (CD4⁺ peptides)using a Nil tube with no antigen CMV or 16 mer CD4⁺ peptides alone; andcombined CMV CD4⁺+CD8⁺ peptide; and using mitogen as a control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise,the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”,will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element or integeror method step or group of elements or integers or method steps but notthe exclusion of any other element or integer or method step or group ofelements or integers or method steps.

As used in the subject specification, the singular forms “a”, “an” and“the” include plural aspects unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a T-cell” includes a singleT-cell, as well as two or more T-cells; reference to “an antigen”includes a single antigen, as well as two or more antigens; reference to“the disclosure” includes single or multiple aspects taught by thepresent disclosure; and so forth. Aspects taught herein are encompassedby the term “invention”. All aspects of the invention are enabled withinthe width of the claims. The terms “T-cells” and “T-lymphocytes” areused interchangeably herein. An “immune cell” includes a lymphocyte suchas a T-cell.

Reference to an “agent”, “reagent”, “molecule” and “compound” includessingle entities and combinations of two or more of such entities. A“combination” also includes multi-part such as a two-part compositionwhere the agents are provided separately and used or dispensedseparately or admixed together prior to dispensation. For example, amulti-part assay pack may have a series of overlapping peptides fromabout 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and/or greater than 15 aminoacid residues in length which encompass all or part of a protein antigenagainst which a cell-mediated immune response is to be measured. Hence,this aspect of the present disclosure includes agents dried and loose orimmobilized to a compartment wall or solid support in an assay pack.

The present disclosure contemplates sets of peptides. The term “set” maybe replaced by other terms such as “pool”, “group”, “series”,“collection” and the like without departing from the method instantlydisclosed. Each set comprises at least one peptide and includes in anembodiment a series of overlapping peptides. Hence, a first set maycontain a series of overlapping peptides of from 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length. These peptides are recognized by CD4⁺ T-cells, (CD4⁺peptides). A second set may contain a series of overlapping peptides ofgreater than 15 amino acid residues in length. These peptides arerecognized by CD8⁺ T-cells (CD8⁺ peptides) Both sets of peptidesencompasses the entire length of or part of a protein antigen.Furthermore, the peptides do not necessarily have to be overlapping ormay overlap by a single amino acid or multiple amino acids. The peptidesincludes pods of peptides which encompass from 80-100% of a proteinantigen. From “80-100%” means 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90,91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 or 100%.

Reference to a series of overlapping peptides from about 7 to 14 aminoacid residues in length which encompass all or part of a protein antigenmeans a peptide of from about 7 amino acid residues in length to amaximum of 14 amino acid residues which in total span from every aminoacid residues which in total span amino acid residues to up to 6 aminoacid residues of a protein antigen from its N-terminal end to itsC-terminal end or part thereof. Hence, if the length of a given peptideis x amino acid residues in length wherein x is from about 7 to 14, thenthe extent of overlap between two consecutive peptides is from x-1 tox-6. In an embodiment, the overlap of each consecutive peptide is x-1. Aseries of overlapping peptides of greater than 15 amino acid residues inlength also spans all or part of a protein antigen wherein each peptideis at least 16 amino acid residues in length or up to the length of thefull protein antigen. In an embodiment, a peptide of greater than 15amino acid residues in length is from 16 to 50 amino acids such as 16,17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34,35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 or 50 aminoacid residues. As indicated above, there is no necessity for thepeptides to overlap provided there is at least one set of one or more 7to 14 amino acid peptides and another set of at least one >15merpeptides.

The present disclosure includes the case where each peptide in theseries is the same length (i.e. x). However, the series of peptides maycomprise a mixture of x₁, x₂, x_(j) . . . x_(i) peptides where each ofx₁ peptides is from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length orgreater than 15 amino acid residues in length.

Enabled herein is a method for detecting a cell-mediated immune responsein a subject, the method comprising incubating lymphocytes from thesubject with at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising atleast one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in lengthand a second set comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acidresidues or greater which peptides encompass all or part of a proteinantigen and then screening for levels of effector molecules produced byactivated lymphocytes.

Lymphocytes are activated by co-incubation with at least two sets ofpeptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprising at leastone peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptidesencompass all or part of a protein antigen.

The present disclosure teaches augmentation of production of effectormolecules from lymphocytes exposed to at least two sets of peptides, afirst set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 aminoacid residues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptideof from 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass allor part of a protein antigen. Such lymphocytes are “activated” or“stimulated” lymphocytes. The augmentation occurs by exposing the cellsto at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising at least onepeptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a secondset comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues orgreater which peptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen. Thelevel of the response is greater than in the presence of whole antigenor a peptide derived from the antigen which is less than 7 amino acidsor greater than 14 amino acids. This enables a more sensitive assay inorder to assess the cell-mediated immune responsiveness of a subject.The present disclosure, therefore, enables an assay to detect, assess orotherwise monitor a cell-mediated response in a subject by measuring thepresence or level of effector molecules from T-cells stimulated by atleast two sets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptideof from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second setcomprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues orgreater which peptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen. Theassay also enables earlier detection of cell-mediated responsiveness. Inan embodiment, the assay taught therein enhances the sensitivity of acell-mediated assay which may enable less sensitive detection assays tobe employed. Furthermore, the extent or magnitude of the cell-mediatedimmune response is proposed to be reflective or informative of thestate, progression and/or severity of a disease condition. For example,the magnitude of the response may determine if a subject has a latent oractive or acute infection or disease condition.

Conveniently, the CD4⁺ and/or CD8⁺ peptides are divided into separatepools of peptides.

Without limiting the present invention to any one theory or mode ofaction, at least two sets of peptides enables both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺epitopes to be stimulated. The peptides may be referred to herein as“CD4⁺ peptides” (>15 mer peptides) or “CD8⁺ peptides” (7 to 14 merpeptides).

An additional agent may also be added to the incubation mixture such asto modulate the activity of regulatory T-cells (T-reg cells). The latterencompasses inhibiting the suppressor function of T-reg cells. Agentswhich modulate T-reg cells encompassed herein include a CD25 ligand; asense or antisense oligonucleotide to genetic material encoding JAK1 orTYK2; a neutralizing antibody; a CpG containing oligonucleotide; anoligonucleotide acting as a toll-like receptor (TLR) modulating agent;and other TLR modulating agents.

In a particular embodiment, the T-reg cells are immune responsesuppressor cells the activity of which is inhibited.

A “CpG molecule” means an oligonucleotide comprising a CpG sequence ormotif.

The present disclosure provides a means to determine the responsivenessof cell-mediated immunity in a subject and, in turn, teaches thedetermination of whether a disease condition or an agent induces or isassociated with immunosuppression. The method also enables diagnosis ofinfectious diseases, pathological conditions, determination of the levelof immunocompetence and assessing of immune cell responsiveness toendogenous or exogenous agents as well as assessing exposure to proteintoxicants. The assay also enables screening of subjects previouslyexposed to a particular antigen, such as an antigen associated with adisease, infection or contaminant.

Accordingly, an aspect taught herein contemplates a method for measuringcell-mediated immune response activity in a subject, the methodcomprising contacting lymphocytes from the subject with at least twosets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of fromabout 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprisingat least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater whichpeptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen and measuring thelevel of an immune effector molecule produced by immune cells whereinthe level of the immune effector molecule is indicative of the level ofcell-mediated immunoresponsiveness of the subject.

Another aspect contemplated herein is a method for measuringcell-mediated immune response activity in a subject, the methodcomprising contacting lymphocytes from the subject with at least twosets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of fromabout 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprisingat least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater whichpeptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen and measuring theelevation in the level of an immune effector molecule from immune cellswherein the level of the immune effector molecule is indicative of thelevel of cell-mediated responsiveness of the subject wherein the levelof responsiveness is indicative of the presence or absence or level orstage of a disease or condition selected from the list comprising aninfection by a pathogenic agent, an autoimmune disease, a cancer, aninflammatory condition and exposure to a toxic proteinaceous agent.

Yet another aspect enabled herein is a method for measuringcell-mediated immune response activity in a subject, the methodcomprising contacting lymphocytes from the subject with at least twosets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of fromabout 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprisingat least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater whichpeptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen and measuring theelevation in the level of an immune effector molecule from immune cellswherein the level of the immune effector molecule is indicative of thelevel of cell-mediated responsiveness and is indicative of the presenceor absence or level or stage of a disease or condition selected from thelist comprising an infection by a pathogenic agent, an autoimmunedisease, a cancer, an inflammatory condition and exposure to a toxicproteinaceous agent.

Still another aspect taught by the present disclosure is an assay todetect the presence, absence, level or stage of a disease or conditionin a subject, the method comprising contacting lymphocytes from thesubject with at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising atleast one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in lengthand a second set comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acidresidues or greater which peptides encompass all or part of a proteinantigen and measuring the elevation in the level of an immune effectormolecule from immune cells wherein the level of the immune effectormolecule is indicative of the disease or condition.

The present disclosure further contemplates a method for determiningwhether an agent induces immunosuppression in a subject, the methodcomprising contacting lymphocytes from the subject after exposure to theagent with at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising atleast one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in lengthand a second set comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acidresidues or greater which peptides encompass all or part of a proteinantigen and measuring the presence and level of an effector moleculefrom the lymphocytes wherein the level of the effector moleculedetermines the level of immunosuppression induced by the agent.

In accordance with this aspect, the agent may be a medicament or anenvironmental toxicant.

In an embodiment, the lymphocytes are comprised within a blood sample.In an embodiment, the blood sample is co-stimulated with at least twosets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of fromabout 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprisingat least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater whichpeptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen.

A use is also provided for at least two sets of peptides, a first setcomprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen in the manufacture of a diagnostic assay ofcell-mediated immune responsiveness by the method of incubatinglymphocytes with a limiting amount of the agonist and detecting thepresence or elevation in an effector molecule.

In another embodiment, taught herein is a method for detecting whether adisease condition is inducing immunosuppression in a subject the methodcomprising contacting lymphocytes from the subject with a diseasecondition with at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising atleast one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in lengthand a second set comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acidresidues or greater which peptides encompass all or part of a proteinantigen and measuring the presence or level of an immune effectormolecule from the lymphocytes wherein the level of the immune effectormolecule is indicative of the extent of immunosuppression induced orassociated with the disease condition.

A use is also provided for at least two sets of peptides, a first setcomprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen in the manufacture of a diagnostic assay ofcell-mediated immune responsiveness. Generally, the method comprisingincubating lymphocytes with at least two sets of peptides, a first setcomprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen.

This use includes the use for detecting or monitoring the presence,absence, level or stage of a disease or condition such as an infectionby a pathogenic agent, an autoimmune disease, a cancer, an inflammatorycondition and/or exposure to a medicament or a toxic proteinaceous agentsuch as an environmental toxicant. Measuring “an immune effectormolecule” includes measuring one or more different types of molecules.

The present disclosure further enables a method for measuringcell-mediated immune response activity in a subject, the methodcomprising contacting a regulatory T-cell from the subject with an agentselected from (i) an inhibitor of suppressor regulatory T-cells; and(ii) an activator of immune augmenting cells or a subset thereof; andfurther contacting T-cells with at least two sets of peptides, a firstset comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen and measuring the elevation in the level of animmune effector molecule from immune cells wherein the level of theimmune effector molecule is indicative of the level of cell-mediatedresponsiveness of the subject.

Examples of inhibitors or modulators of T-reg function include CD25ligands such as but not limited to a polyclonal or monoclonal antibodyto CD25 or an antigen-binding fragment thereof, humanized or deimmunizedpolyclonal or monoclonal antibodies to CD25 or a recombinant orsynthetic form of the polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies. Otherexamples of agents include sense or antisense nucleic and moleculesdirected to the mRNA or DNA (i.e. genetic material) encoding JanusTyrosine Kinase 1 (JAK1) or Tyrosine Kinase 2 (TYK2) or small moleculeinhibitors of JAK1 or TYK2 proteins. Reference to “small molecules”includes immunoglobulin new antigen receptors (IgNARs) as described inInternational Patent Publication No. WO 2005/118629. Yet still furtherexamples of suitable agents stimulating agents such as CpG moleculeswhich act via Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and/or other mechanisms. Hence,CpG containing oligonucleotides and an oligonucleotide acting as a TLRmodulating agent also form part of the present disclosure.

A single type of agent may be used or two or more types of agents may beemployed to modulate T-reg cells. For example, the assay may beconducted with a CD25 ligand and a JAK1/TYK2 sense or antisenseoligonucleotide; a CD25 ligand and a TLR modulating agent; a JAK1/TYK2sense or antisense oligonucleotide and a TLR modulating agent; or a CD25ligand, a JAK1/TYK2 sense or antisense oligonucleotide and a TLRmodulating agent. Alternatively, just one type of agent is employed. Inanother alternative, a CpG comprising oligonucleotide and a TLRmodulating agent is used.

Reference to a “subject” includes a human or non-human species includingprimates, livestock animals (e.g. sheep, cows, pigs, horses, donkey,goats), laboratory test animals (e.g. mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs,hamsters), companion animals (e.g. dogs, cats), avian species (e.g.poultry birds, aviary birds), reptiles and amphibians. The presentsubject matter has applicability in human medicine as well as havinglivestock and veterinary and wild-life applications which includes thehorse, dog and camel racing industries. For example, the assay of thepresent disclosure may be routinely carried out on horses before and/orafter heavy exertion (such as a race) to screen for evidence ofexercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH). All horses exhibit someform of EIPH to some degree during exercise. However, sub-clinical formsof EIPH can be hard to detect.

Reference to a “human” includes particular populations of humans such aspediatric, elderly and infirmed populations of humans as well asparticular cohorts or populations of humans of a particular ethnicity.

In another embodiment, the subject is a human and the cell-mediatedimmune response assay is used in screening for responsiveness topathogenic microorganisms, viruses and parasites, potential fordevelopment or monitoring autoimmune conditions, Celiac's disease,monitoring a subject's response to oncological challenge and fordetermining the presence of any immunodeficiency or immunosuppression.The latter may occur, for example, due to certain medicaments includingvarious chemotherapeutic agents. Alternatively, exposure toenvironmental proteinaceous toxicants and pollutants.

The immune effector molecules may be any of a range of molecules whichare produced in response to cell activation or stimulation by anantigen. Although an interferon (IFN) such as IFN-γ is a particularlyuseful immune effector molecule, others include a range of cytokinessuch as interleukins (IL), e.g. IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-6 (CXCL8), IL-10,IL-12, IL-13, IL-16 (LCF) or IL-17, IL-1α (IL-1F1), IL-1β (IL-1F2),IL-1rα (IL-1F3), Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α), TransformingGrowth Factor beta (TGF-β), a Colony Stimulating Factor (CSF) such asGranulocyte (G)-CSF or Granulocyte Macrophage (GM)-CSF, complementcomponent 5a (C5a), Groα (CXCL1), sICAM-1 (CD54), IP-10 (CXCL10), I-TAC(CXCL11), MCP-1 (CCL2), MIF (GIF), MIP-1α (CCL3), MIP-1β (CCL4), RANTES(CCL5) or MIG (CXCL9).

The present disclosure also enables a method for measuring cell-mediatedimmune response activity in a subject, the method comprising contactinglymphocytes from the subject with at least two sets of peptides, a firstset comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen and measuring the level of an immune effectormolecule from immune cells wherein the level of the immune effectormolecule is indicative of the level of cell-mediated responsiveness ofthe subject.

The assay taught herein enables detection of the presence or absence orlevel or stage of a disease or condition in a subject such as infectionby a pathogenic agent, an autoimmune disease, cancer, exposure to aninflammatory agent exposure to a medicament, exposure to a toxicproteinaceous agent and immunodeficiency or immunosuppression such asinduced by a disease condition.

In an embodiment, the sample collected from the subject is generallydeposited into a blood collection tube. A blood collection tube includesa blood draw tube or other similar vessel. Conveniently, when the sampleis whole blood, the blood collection tube is heparinized. Alternatively,heparin is added to the tube after the blood is collected.Notwithstanding that whole blood is particularly contemplated and a mostconvenient sample, the present disclosure extends to other samplescontaining immune cells such as lymph fluid, cerebral fluid, tissuefluid and respiratory fluid including nasal and pulmonary fluid as wellas samples having undergone cell depletion. Reference to “whole blood”includes whole blood which has not been diluted such as with tissueculture, medium, reagents, excipients, etc. In one embodiment, the term“whole blood” includes an assay sample (i.e. reaction mixture)comprising at least 10% by volume whole blood. The term “at least 10% byvolume” includes blood volumes of 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36,37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72,73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90,91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 and 100% by volume of total assayvolume of the reaction mixture. Additional agents may be added such asculture media, enzymes, excipients antigen and the like withoutdeparting from the sample comprising “whole blood”.

Blood volumes may be from about 0.5 μl to 200 ml. Examples include 0.5μl, 5 μl, 10 μl, 20 μl, 50 μl, 100 μl, 500 μl, 1 ml, 5 ml, 10 ml, and 20ml. The present disclosure also enables the use of acousticmicrostreaming to improve the mixing of components in the assay.Acoustic microstreaming is disclosed in International Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/AU01/00420 and in Petkovic-Duran et al. (2009) Biotechniques47:827-834.

Hence, contemplated herein is a method of mixing one or more lymphocytesand at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising at least onepeptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a secondset comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues orgreater which peptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen in avessel, the method comprising providing from about 0.5 μl to 150 μl offluid comprising the components in the vessel so as to establish adiscontinuity in acoustic impedance and applying an acoustic signal tocause mixing within the fluid. A second acoustic signal may also beapplied, the first and second signals having respective frequencies eachselected from about 1 Hz to about 20,000 Hz in an alternating manner toeffect chaotic mixing within the fluid.

The use of blood collection tubes is compatible with standard automatedlaboratory systems and these are amenable to analysis in large-scale andrandom access sampling. Blood collection tubes also minimize handlingcosts and reduce laboratory exposure to whole blood and plasma and,hence, reduce the risk of laboratory personnel from contracting apathogenic agent such as HIV or Hepatitis B virus (HBV) or Hepatitis Cvirus (HCV).

Combining the incubation step with the collection tube is particularlyefficacious and enhances the sensitivity of the assay as does theoptional feature of incubating the cells in the presence of a simplesugar such as dextrose or glucose.

The cells of the cell-mediated immune system lose the capacity to mountan immune response in whole blood after extended periods following blooddraw from the subject, and responses without intervention are oftenseverely reduced or absent 24 hours following blood draw. The reductionof labor and need for specialized plasticware allows cell-mediatedimmune stimulation with the peptide antigens to be performed at thepoint of care locations such as physicians' offices, clinics, outpatientfacilities and veterinary clinics or on farms. Once antigen stimulationis complete, the requirement for fresh and active cells no longerexists. IFN-γ and other cytokines or immune effector molecules arestable in plasma and, thus, the sample can be stored, or shipped withoutspecial conditions or rapid time requirements.

The incubation step may be from 1 to 50 hours, such as 1 to 40 hours or8 to 24 hours or a time period in between including 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43,44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 or 50 hours. A period of 24 hours is particularlyconvenient.

The ability to measure cell-mediated immunity is important for assessinga subject's ability to respond to an infection by a pathogenic agentsuch as a microorganism or virus or parasite, to mount an autoimmuneresponse such as in autoimmune diabetes or to protect against cancers orother oncological conditions or to detect an inflammatory condition orto detect exposure or sensitivity of a subject to a toxic agent such asberyllium. The assay described herein also enables detection of diseaseconditions which lead to immunosuppression or immunosuppresion inducedby medicaments Consequently, reference to “measuring a cell-mediatedimmune response in a subject” includes and encompasses immune diagnosisof infectious and autoimmune diseases, a marker for immunocompetence aswell as a marker for inflammatory diseases, cancer and toxic agents.Importantly, the combined innate and/or adaptive immune responsivenessis determined. Furthermore, the ability to use small blood volumesenables assays to be readily conducted on, for example, the pediatric,elderly and infirmed populations. The assay herein enables earlydetection or more sensitive detection of immunoresponsiveness.

In an embodiment, disease conditions leading to immunosuppressioninclude chronic infection and cancer. Medicaments which can lead toimmunosuppression include those used to treat rheumatoid arthritis,cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

Pathogenic or infectious agents include bacteria, parasites and viruses.Examples of bacteria include Gram positive and Gram negativemicroorganisms such as Mycobacterium species, Staphylococcus species,Streptococcus species, Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Clostridiumspecies, Shigella species, Proteus species, Bacillus species, Hemophilusspecies, Borrelia species amongst others. Mycobacterium tuberculosis isa particularly useful target as well as conditions arising frominfection by M. tuberculosis such as tuberculosis (TB). Examples ofviruses include Hepatitis virus (Hepatitis B virus and Hepatitis Cvirus), Herpes virus and Human immune deficiency virus (HIV) as well asdiseases resulting therefrom. Parasites include Plasmodium species,ringworm, liver parasites and the like. Other pathogenic agents includeeukaryotic cells such as yeasts and fungi.

In an embodiment, the tuberculosis antigen is CFP10, ESAT-6, TB7.7 orTB37.6. In an embodiment, the subject is infected with HIV.

The present invention is particularly useful for screening for exposureto M. tuberculosis. Hence, the present disclosure teaches a method formeasuring cell-mediated immune response activity in a subject, themethod comprising contacting lymphocytes from the subject with at leasttwo sets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide offrom about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second setcomprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues orgreater which peptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen,wherein the antigen is selected from CFP10, ESAT-6, TB7.7 and TB37.6from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and measuring the level of an immuneeffector molecule produced by immune cells wherein the level of theimmune effector molecule is indicative of the level of cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness of the subject to M. tuberculosis.

CFP10 is also known as ESAT-6-like protein eesxB and secreted antigenicprotein MTSA-10. ESAT-6 is a six kDa early secretary antigenic target ofM. tuberculosis. Other suitable target protein antigens for M.tuberculosis include TB7.7 and TB37.6.

Autoimmune diseases contemplated herein for detection include inter aliaalopecia areata, ankylosing spondylitis, antiphospholipid syndrome,autoimmune Addison's disease multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease ofthe adrenal gland, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, autoimmune hepatitis,autoimmune oophoritis and orchitis, Behcet's disease, bullouspemphigoid, cardiomyopathy, celiac sprue-dermatitis, chronic fatiguesyndrome (CFIDS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating, chronicinflammatory polyneuropathy, Churg-Strauss syndrome, cicatricialpemphigoid, crest syndrome, cold agglutinin disease, Crohn's disease,dermatitis herpetiformis, discoid lupus, essential mixedcryoglobulinemia, fibromyalgia, glomerulonephritis, Grave's disease,Guillain-Barre, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), IgA nephropathy, insulindependent diabetes (Type I), lichen planus, lupus, Meniere's disease,mixed connective tissue disease, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis,myocarditis, pemphigus vulgaris, pernicious anemia, polyarteritisnodosa, polychondritis, polyglancular syndromes, polymyalgia rheumatica,polymyositis and dermatomyositis, primary agammaglobulinemia, primarybiliary cirrhosis, psoriasis, Raynaud's phenomenon, Reiter's syndrome,rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arrthritis, sarcoidosis, scleroderma,Sjogren's syndrome, stiff-man syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus,Takayasu arteritis, temporal arteritis/gianT-cell arteritis, ulcerativecolitis, uveitis, vasculitis and vitiligo.

It is generally important to assess the potential or actualcell-mediated responsiveness in subjects exposed to these infectiousentities. The method of the present disclosure can also be used todetect the presence or absence of these conditions as well as the levelor stage of disease process.

Other disease conditions which can lead to immunosuppression includeinflammatory disease conditions.

Examples of inflammatory disease conditions contemplated by the presentdisclosure include but are not limited to those disease and disorderswhich result in a response of redness, swelling, pain, and a feeling ofheat in certain areas that is meant to protect tissues affected byinjury or disease. Inflammatory diseases which can be treated using themethods of the present disclosure include, without being limited to,acne, angina, arthritis, aspiration pneumonia, disease, empyema,gastroenteritis, inflammation, intestinal flu, NEC, necrotizingenterocolitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, pharyngitis, PID, pleurisy,raw throat, redness, rubor, sore throat, stomach flu and urinary tractinfections, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, chronicinflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, chronic inflammatorydemyelinating polyneuropathy, chronic inflammatory demyelinatingpolyradiculoneuropathy. In terms of non-human applications, the presentdisclosure extends to detecting EIPH in horses and various conditions inanimals such as facial tumor disease in the Tasmanian Devil.

Cancer therapy also is somewhat dependent on cell-mediated immunity andthe cancer itself or drugs used to treat cancer can lead toimmunosuppression. Cancers contemplated herein include: a group ofdiseases and disorders that are characterized by uncontrolled cellulargrowth (e.g. formation of tumor) without any differentiation of thosecells into specialized and different cells. Such diseases and disordersinclude ABL1 protooncogene, AIDS related cancers, acoustic neuroma,acute lymphocytic leukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia, adenocysticcarcinoma, adrenocortical cancer, agnogenic myeloid metaplasia,alopecia, alveolar soft-part sarcoma, anal cancer, angiosarcoma,aplastic anaemia, astrocytoma, ataxia-telangiectasia, basal cellcarcinoma (skin), bladder cancer, bone cancers, bowel cancer, brain stemglioma, brain and CNS tumors, breast cancer, CNS tumors, carcinoidtumors, cervical cancer, childhood brain tumors, childhood cancer,childhood leukaemia, childhood soft tissue sarcoma, chondrosarcoma,choriocarcinoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, chronic myeloidleukaemia, colorectal cancers, cutaneous T-Cell lymphoma,dermatofibrosarcoma-protuberans, desmoplastic-small-round-cell-tumor,ductal carcinoma, endocrine cancers, endometrial cancer, ependymoma,esophageal cancer, Ewing's sarcoma, extra-hepatic bile duct cancer, eyecancer, eye: melanoma, retinoblastoma, fallopian tube cancer, fanconianemia, fibrosarcoma, gall bladder cancer, gastric cancer,gastrointestinal cancers, gastrointestinal-carcinoid-tumor,genitourinary cancers, germ cell tumors,gestational-trophoblastic-disease, glioma, gynaecological cancers,hematological malignancies, hairy cell leukaemia, head and neck cancer,hepatocellular cancer, hereditary breast cancer, histiocytosis,Hodgkin's disease, human papillomavirus, hydatidiform mole,hypercalcemia, hypopharynx cancer, intraocular melanoma, islet cellcancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, kidney cancer, Langerhan's-cell-histiocytosis,laryngeal cancer, leiomyosarcoma, leukemia, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, lipcancer, liposarcoma, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphedema, lymphoma,Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, male breast cancer,malignant-rhabdoid-tumor-of-kidney, medulloblastoma, melanoma, merkelcell cancer, mesothelioma, metastatic cancer, mouth cancer, multipleendocrine neoplasia, mycosis fungoides, myelodysplastic syndromes,myeloma, myeloproliferative disorders, nasal cancer, nasopharyngealcancer, nephroblastoma, neuroblastoma, neurofibromatosis, nijmegenbreakage syndrome, non-melanoma skin cancer,non-small-cell-lung-cancer-(NSCLC), ocular cancers, oesophageal cancer,oral cavity cancer, oropharynx cancer, osteosarcoma, ostomy ovariancancer, pancreas cancer, paranasal cancer, parathyroid cancer, parotidgland cancer, penile cancer, peripheral-neuroectodermal-tumors,pituitary cancer, polycythemia vera, prostate cancer,rare-cancers-and-associated-disorders, renal cell carcinoma,retinoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Rothmund-Thomson syndrome, salivarygland cancer, sarcoma, schwannoma, Sezary syndrome, skin cancer, smallcell lung cancer (SCLC), small intestine cancer, soft tissue sarcoma,spinal cord tumors, squamous-cell-carcinoma-(skin), stomach cancer,synovial sarcoma, testicular cancer, thymus cancer, thyroid cancer,transitional-cell-cancer-(bladder),transitional-cell-cancer-(renal-pelvis-/-ureter), trophoblastic cancer,urethral cancer, urinary system cancer, uroplakins, uterine sarcoma,uterus cancer, vaginal cancer, vulva cancer,Waldenstrom's-macroglobulinemia and Wilms' tumor.

In the above aspects, the antigen may be derived from the pathogenicagent, be associated with the disease condition or cancer or be thetoxicant. Alternatively, the infection, disease condition, cancer ortoxicant may suppress cell-mediated immunity in which case any antigento which the subject has been prior exposed could be employed.

The detection of the immune effector molecules may be measured at theprotein or nucleic acid levels. Consequently, reference to “presence orlevel” of the immune effector molecule includes direct and indirectdata. For example, high levels of cytokine mRNA are indirect datashowing increased levels of the cytokine.

Ligands to the immune effectors are particularly useful in detectingand/or quantitating these molecules. Antibodies to the immune effectorsare particularly useful. Techniques for the assays contemplated hereinare known in the art and include, for example, radioimmunoassay,sandwich assays, ELISA and ELISpot. Reference to “antibodies” includesparts of antibodies, mammalianized (e.g. humanized) antibodies,deimmunized antibodies, recombinant or synthetic antibodies and hybridand single chain antibodies. For skin tests, in humans, humanized ordeimmunized antibodies are particularly contemplated herein to detecteffector molecules.

Both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are obtainable by immunizationwith the immune effector molecules or antigenic fragments thereof andeither type is utilizable for immunoassays. Methods of obtaining bothtypes of sera are well known in the art. Polyclonal sera are lesspreferred but are relatively easily prepared by injection of a suitablelaboratory animal with an effective amount of the immune effector, orantigenic part thereof, collecting serum from the animal and isolatingspecific sera by any of the known immunoadsorbent techniques. Althoughantibodies produced by this method are utilizable in virtually any typeof immunoassay, they are generally less favoured because of thepotential heterogeneity of the product.

The use of monoclonal antibodies in an immunoassay is particularlyuseful because of the ability to produce them in large quantities andthe homogeneity of the product. The preparation of hybridoma cell linesfor monoclonal antibody production derived by fusing an immortal cellline and lymphocytes sensitized against the immunogenic preparation canbe done by techniques which are well known to those who are skilled inthe art.

Another aspect enabled herein, therefore, is a method for detecting animmune effector molecule in a sample comprising lymphocytes from asubject, the method comprising contacting the sample or an aliquot ofthe sample with an antibody specific for the immune effector molecule oran antigenic fragment thereof for a time and under conditions sufficientfor an antibody-effector complex to form, and then detecting the complexwherein the immune effector molecule is generated after incubation ofthe lymphocytes with at least two sets of peptides, a first setcomprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen.

A “sample” includes whole blood or a fraction thereof comprisinglymphocytes. This method includes micro-arrays, macro-arrays andnano-arrays on planar or spherical solid supports. A micro- ormacro-array is useful. A “sample” also includes a small volume sample offrom about 0.5 μl to 1000 μl including 5 μl, 10 μl, 20 μl, 50 μl and 100μl as well as larger volumes such as from 1 ml to about 200 ml such as 1ml, 2 ml, 5 ml, 10 ml or 20 ml.

A wide range of immunoassay techniques are available as can be seen byreference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,016,043, 4,424,279 and 4,018,653.

The following is a description of one type of assay. An unlabeledantibody is immobilized on a solid substrate and the sample to be testedfor the immune effector molecules (e.g. a cytokine) brought into contactwith the bound molecule. After a suitable period of incubation, for aperiod of time sufficient to allow formation of an antibody-immuneeffector molecule complex, a second antibody specific to the effectormolecule, labeled with a reporter molecule capable of producing adetectable signal, is then added and incubated, allowing time sufficientfor the formation of another complex of antibody-effector-labeledantibody. Any unreacted material is washed away, and the presence of theeffector molecule is determined by observation of a signal produced bythe reporter molecule. The results may either be qualitative, by simpleobservation of the visible signal, or may be quantitated by comparingwith a control sample containing known amounts of antigen. Thisgeneralized technique is well known to those skilled in the art as wouldbe any of a number of variations.

In these assays, a first antibody having specificity for the instantimmune effectors is either covalently or passively bound to a solidsurface. The solid surface is typically glass or a polymer, the mostcommonly used polymers being cellulose, polyacrylamide, nylon,polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride or polypropylene. The solid supports maybe in the form of tubes, beads, spheres, discs of microplates, or anyother surface suitable for conducting an immunoassay. The bindingprocesses are well known in the art and generally consist ofcross-linking covalently binding or physically adsorbing, thepolymer-antibody complex is washed in preparation for the test sample.An aliquot of the sample to be tested is then added to the solid phasecomplex and incubated for a period of time sufficient (e.g. 2-120minutes or where more convenient, overnight) and under suitableconditions (e.g. for about 20° C. to about 40° C.) to allow binding ofany subunit present in the antibody. Following the incubation period,the antibody subunit solid phase is washed and dried and incubated witha second antibody specific for a portion of the effector molecule. Thesecond antibody is linked to a reporter molecule which is used toindicate the binding of the second antibody to the effector molecule.

There are many variations to this assay. One particularly usefulvariation is a simultaneous assay where all or many of the componentsare admixed substantially simultaneously. Furthermore, binding of anantibody to a cytokine may be determined by binding of a labeledantibody directed to the first mentioned antibody.

By “reporter molecule” as used in the present specification, is meant amolecule which, by its chemical nature, provides an analyticallyidentifiable signal which allows the detection of antigen-boundantibody. Detection may be either qualitative or quantitative. The mostcommonly used reporter molecules in this type of assay are eitherenzymes, fluorophores or radionuclide containing molecules (i.e.radioisotopes) and chemiluminescent molecules. Examples of suitablefluorophores are provided in Table 1. In the case of an enzymeimmunoassay, an enzyme is conjugated to the second antibody, generallyby means of glutaraldehyde or periodate. As will be readily recognized,however, a wide variety of different conjugation techniques exist, whichare readily available to the skilled artisan. Commonly used enzymesinclude horseradish peroxidase, glucose oxidase, beta-galactosidase andalkaline phosphatase, amongst others. The substrates to be used with thespecific enzymes are generally chosen for the production, uponhydrolysis by the corresponding enzyme, of a detectable color change.Examples of suitable enzymes include alkaline phosphatase andperoxidase. It is also possible to employ fluorogenic substrates, whichyield a fluorescent product rather than the chromogenic substrates notedabove. In all cases, the enzyme-labeled antibody is added to the firstantibody-antigen complex, allowed to bind, and then the excess reagentis washed away. A solution containing the appropriate substrate is thenadded to the complex of antibody-antigen-antibody. The substrate willreact with the enzyme linked to the second antibody, giving aqualitative visual signal, which may be further quantitated, usuallyspectrophotometrically, to give an indication of the amount of antigenwhich was present in the sample. Again, the present disclosure extendsto a substantially simultaneous assay.

Alternately, fluorescent compounds, such as fluorescein and rhodamine,may be chemically coupled to antibodies without altering their bindingcapacity. When activated by illumination with light of a particularwavelength, the fluorochrome-labeled antibody adsorbs the light energy,inducing a state to excitability in the molecule, followed by emissionof the light at a characteristic color visually detectable with a lightmicroscope. The fluorescent labeled antibody is allowed to bind to thefirst antibody-antigen complex. After washing off the unbound reagent,the remaining tertiary complex is then exposed to the light of theappropriate wavelength the fluorescence observed indicates the presenceof the antigen of interest. Immunofluorescene and enzyme immunoassaytechniques are both very well established in the art and areparticularly preferred for the present method. However, other reportermolecules, such as radioisotope, chemiluminescent or bioluminescentmolecules, may also be employed.

There are a range of other detection systems which may be employedincluding colloidal gold and all such detection systems are encompassedby the present disclosure.

The present disclosure also contemplates genetic assays such asinvolving PCR analysis to detect RNA expression products of a geneticsequence encoding an immune effector.

In one embodiment, PCR is conducted using pairs of primers, one or bothof which are generally labeled with the same or a different reportermolecule capable of giving a distinguishable signal. The use offluorophores is particularly useful in the practice of the presentdisclosure. Examples of suitable fluorophores may be selected from thelist given in Table 1. Other labels include luminescence andphosphorescence as well as infrared dyes. These dyes or fluorophores mayalso be used as reporter molecules for antibodies.

TABLE 1 List of suitable fluorophores Probe Ex¹ (nm) Em² (nm) Reactiveand conjugated probes Hydroxycoumarin 325 386 Aminocoumarin 350 455Methoxycoumarin 360 410 Cascade Blue 375; 400 423 Lucifer Yellow 425 528NBD 466 539 R-Phycoerythrin (PE) 480; 565 578 PE-Cy5 conjugates 480;565; 650 670 PE-Cy7 conjugates 480; 565; 743 767 APC-Cy7 conjugates 650;755 767 Red 613 480; 565 613 Fluorescein 495 519 FluorX 494 520BODIPY-FL 503 512 TRITC 547 574 X-Rhodamine 570 576 Lissamine RhodamineB 570 590 PerCP 490 675 Texas Red 589 615 Allophycocyanin (APC) 650 660TruRed 490, 675 695 Alexa Fluor 350 346 445 Alexa Fluor 430 430 545Alexa Fluor 488 494 517 Alexa Fluor 532 530 555 Alexa Fluor 546 556 573Alexa Fluor 555 556 573 Alexa Fluor 568 578 603 Alexa Fluor 594 590 617Alexa Fluor 633 621 639 Alexa Fluor 647 650 688 Alexa Fluor 660 663 690Alexa Fluor 680 679 702 Alexa Fluor 700 696 719 Alexa Fluor 750 752 779Cy2 489 506 Cy3 (512); 550 570; (615) Cy3,5 581 596; (640) Cy5 (625);650 670 Cy5,5 675 694 Cy7 743 767 Nucleic acid probes Hoeschst 33342 343483 DAPI 345 455 Hoechst 33258 345 478 SYTOX Blue 431 480 Chromomycin A3445 575 Mithramycin 445 575 YOYO-1 491 509 SYTOX Green 504 523 SYTOXOrange 547 570 Ethidium Bormide 493 620 7-AAD 546 647 Acridine Orange503 530/640 TOTO-1, TO-PRO-1 509 533 Thiazole Orange 510 530 PropidiumIodide (PI) 536 617 TOTO-3, TO-PRO-3 642 661 LDS 751 543; 590 712; 607Fluorescent Proteins Y66F 360 508 Y66H 360 442 EBFP 380 440 Wild-type396, 475  50, 503 GFPuv 385 508 ECFP 434 477 Y66W 436 485 S65A 471 504S65C 479 507 S65L 484 510 S65T 488 511 EGFP 489 508 EYFP 514 527 DsRed558 583 Other probes Monochlorobimane 380 461 Calcein 496 517 ¹Ex: Peakexcitation wavelength (nm) ²Em: Peak emission wavelength (nm)

Any suitable method of analyzing fluorescence emission is encompassedherein. In this regard, techniques taught herein include but are notrestricted to 2-photon and 3-photon time resolved fluorescencespectroscopy as, for example, disclosed by Lakowicz et al. (1997)Biophys. 172:567, fluorescence lifetime imaging as, for example,disclosed by Eriksson et al. (1993) Biophys. 12:64 and fluorescenceresonance energy transfer as, for example, disclosed by Youvan et al.(1997) Biotechnology et elia 3:1-18.

Luminescence and phosphorescence may result respectively from a suitableluminescent or phosphorescent label as is known in the art. Any opticalmeans of identifying such label may be used in this regard.

Infrared radiation may result from a suitable infrared dye. Exemplaryinfrared dyes that may be employed in the present disclosure include butare not limited to those disclosed in Lewis et al. (1999) Dyes Pigm.42(2):197, Tawa et al. Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 488 [Electrical,Optical and Magnetic Properties of Organic Solid-State Materials IV],885-890, Daneshvar et al. (1999) J. Immunol. Methods 226(1-2):119-128,Rapaport et al. (1999) Appl. Phys. Lett. 74(3):329-331 and Dung et al.(1993) J. Raman Spectrosc. 24(5):281-285. Any suitable infraredspectroscopic method may be employed to interrogate the infrared dye.For instance, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as, for example,described by Rahman et al. (1998) J. Org. Chem. 63:6196 may be used inthis regard.

Suitably, electromagnetic scattering may result from diffraction,reflection, polarization or refraction of the incident electromagneticradiation including light and X-rays. Such scattering can be used toquantitate the level of mRNA or level of protein.

Flow cytometry is particularly useful in analyzing fluorophore emission.

As is known in the art, flow cytometry is a high throughput techniquewhich involves rapidly analyzing the physical and chemicalcharacteristics of particles (e.g. labeled mRNA, DNA or proteins) asthey pass through the path of one or more laser beams while suspended ina fluid stream. As each particle intercepts the laser beam, thescattered light and fluorescent light emitted by each cell or particleis detected and recorded using any suitable tracking algorithm as, forexample, described hereunder.

A modern flow cytometer is able to perform these tasks up to 100,000cells/particles s⁻¹. Through the use of an optical array of filters anddichroic mirrors, different wavelengths of fluorescent light can beseparated and simultaneously detected. In addition, a number of laserswith different excitation wavelengths may be used. Hence, a variety offluorophores can be used to target and examine, for example, differentimmune effectors within a sample or immune effectors from multiplesubjects.

Suitable flow cytometers which may be used in the methods of the presentdisclosure include those which measure five to nine optical parameters(see Table 2) using a single excitation laser, commonly an argon ionair-cooled laser operating at 15 mW on its 488 nm spectral line. Moreadvanced flow cytometers are capable of using multiple excitation laserssuch as a HeNe laser (633 nm) or a HeCd laser (325 nm) in addition tothe argon ion laser (488 or 514 nm).

TABLE 2 Exemplary optical parameters which may be measured by a flowcytometer. Detection angle form Wavelength Parameter Acronym incidentlaser beam (nm) Forward scattered light FS 2-5° 488* Side scatteredlight SS 90° 488* “Green” fluorescence FL1 90° 510-540^(†) “Yellow”fluorescence FL2 90° 560-580^(†) “Red” fluorescence FL3 90° >650^(#)  *using a 488 nm excitation laser ^(†)width of bandpass filter^(#)longpass filter

For example, Biggs et al. (1999) Cytometry 36:36-45 have constructed an11-parameter flow cytometer using three excitation lasers and havedemonstrated the use of nine distinguishable fluorophores in addition toforward and side scatter measurements for purposes of immunophenotyping(i.e. classifying) particles. Selection of parameters can be adequatelyused depends heavily on the extinction coefficients, quantum yields andamount of spectral overlap between all fluorophores (Malemed et al.(1990) “Flow cytometry and sorting”, 2^(nd) Ed., New York, Wiley-Liss).It will be understood that the present disclosure is not restricted toany particular flow cytometer or any particular set of parameters. Inthis regard, the disclosure also contemplates use in place of aconventional flow cytometer, a microfabricated flow cytometer as, forexample, disclosed by Fu et al. (1999) Nature Biotechnology17:1109-1111.

The assay enabled herein may be automated or semi-automated for highthroughput screening or for screening for a number of immune effectorsfrom the one subject. The automation is conveniently controlled bycomputer software.

The present disclosure further contemplates therefore web-based andnon-web-based systems where data on the cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness of a subject are provided by a client server orother architecture platform to a central processor which analyses andcompares to a control and optionally considers other information such aspatient age, sex, weight and other medical conditions and then providesa report, such as, for example, a risk factor for disease severity orprogression or status or an index of probability of disease development.A business method is therefore also provided whereby blood is collectedin transportable tubes which is then analyzed for cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness at a defined location and the results then sent inthe form of an electronic report via a client server or otherarchitecture platform to a clinical care provider.

Hence, knowledge-based computer software and hardware also form part ofthe present disclosure. This facilitates clinical care to ascertainwhether a disease condition including infection, cancer of inflammationor a medicament or toxicant is inducing or is associated withimmunosuppression.

The assays enabled by the instant disclosure may be used in existing ornewly developed knowledge-based architecture or platforms associatedwith pathology services. For example, results from the assays aretransmitted via a communications network (e.g. the internet) ortelephone connection to a processing system in which an algorithm isstored and used to generate a predicted posterior probability valuewhich translates to the index of cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness orimmunosuppression which is then forwarded to an end user in the form ofa diagnostic or predictive report. This report may also form the basisof clinical care management and personalized medicine.

The assay may, therefore, be in the form of a kit or computer-basedsystem which comprises the reagents necessary to detect theconcentration of the immune effector molecule following exposure oflymphocytes to at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising atleast one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in lengthand a second set comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acidresidues or greater which peptides encompass all or part of a proteinantigen and the computer hardware and/or software to facilitatedetermination and transmission of reports to a clinician.

For example, the present disclosure contemplates a method of allowing auser to determine the status of cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness of asubject, the method including:

(a) receiving data in the form of levels or concentrations of an immuneeffector molecule which, relative to a control, provide a correlation asthe state of cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness in a subject, via acommunications network, the immune effector molecule measured afterexposure of lymphocytes to at least two sets of peptides, a first setcomprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen;

(b) processing the subject data via univariate or multivariate analysisto provide an immunoresponsiveness value;

(c) determining the status of the subject in accordance with the resultsof the immunoresponsiveness value in comparison with predeterminedvalues; and

(d) transferring an indication of the status of the subject to the uservia the communications network.

Reference to the “univariate” or “multivariate” analysis includes analgorithm which performs the univariate or multivariate analysisfunction.

Conveniently, the method generally further includes:

(a) having the user determine the data using a remote end station; and

(b) transferring the data from the end station to the base station viathe communications network.

The base station can include first and second processing systems, inwhich case the method can include:

(a) transferring the data to the first processing system;

(b) transferring the data to the second processing system; and

(c) causing the first processing system to perform the univariate ormultivariate analysis function to generate the cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness value.

The method may also include:

(a) transferring the results of the univariate or multivariate analysisfunction to the first processing system; and

(b) causing the first processing system to determine the status of thesubject.

In this case, the method also includes at least one of:

(a) transferring the data between the communications network and thefirst processing system through a first firewall; and

(b) transferring the data between the first and the second processingsystems through a second firewall.

The second processing system may be coupled to a database adapted tostore predetermined data and/or the univariate or multivariate analysisfunction, the method including:

(a) querying the database to obtain at least selected predetermined dataor access to the univariate or multivariate analysis function from thedatabase; and

(b) comparing the selected predetermined data to the subject data orgenerating a predicted probability index of a level of cellularimmunoresponsiveness or immunosuppression.

The second processing system can be coupled to a database, the methodincluding storing the data in the database.

The method can also include causing the base station to:

(a) determine payment information, the payment information representingthe provision of payment by the user; and

(b) perform the comparison in response to the determination of thepayment information.

The present disclosure also provides a base station for determining thestatus of a subject with respect to cell-mediated immunoresponsivenessor immunosuppression, the base station including:

(a) a store method;

(b) a processing system, the processing system being adapted to:

(c) receive subject data from the user via a communications network, thedata including levels of immune effector molecule wherein the level ofthe effector molecule relative to a control provides a correlation tothe state of cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness wherein the immuneeffector molecule is determined after exposure of lymphocytes to atleast two sets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptideof from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and/or a second setcomprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues orgreater which peptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen;

(d) performing an algorithmic function including comparing the data topredetermined data;

(e) determining the status of the subject in accordance with the resultsof the algorithmic function including the comparison; and

(c) output an indication of the status of the subject to the user viathe communications network.

The processing system can be adapted to receive data from a remote endstation adapted to determine the data.

The processing system may include:

(a) a first processing system adapted to:

-   -   (i) receive the data; and    -   (ii) determine the status of the subject in accordance with the        results of the univariate or multivariate analysis function        including comparing the data; and

(b) a second processing system adapted to:

-   -   receive the data from the processing system;    -   (ii) perform the univariate or multivariate analysis function        including the comparison; and    -   (iii) transfer the results to the first processing system.

The processing system can be coupled to a database, the processingsystem being adapted to store the data in the database.

In accordance with this embodiment, levels of the immune effectormolecule may be screened alone or in combination with other biomarkersor disease indicators. An “altered” level means an increase or elevationor a decrease or reduction in the concentrations of the immune effectormolecule.

The determination of the concentrations or levels of the immune effectormolecule enables establishment of a diagnostic rule based on theconcentrations relative to controls. Alternatively, the diagnostic ruleis based on the application of a statistical and machine learningalgorithm. Such an algorithm uses relationships between effectormolecule and disease status observed in training data (with knowndisease or cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness status) to inferrelationships which are then used to predict the status of subjects withunknown status. An algorithm can be employed which provides an index ofprobability that a subject has a certain level of cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness and/or a disease condition. The algorithm performsa univariate or multivariate analysis function.

Hence, the present disclosure provides a diagnostic rule based on theapplication of statistical and machine learning algorithms. Such analgorithm uses the relationships between immune effector molecule andlevel of cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness or immunosuppressionobserved in training data (with known immune status) to inferrelationships which are then used to predict the status of patients withunknown immune status. Practitioners skilled in the art of data analysisrecognize that many different forms of inferring relationships in thetraining data may be used without materially changing the presentdisclosure.

The present disclosure further contemplates the use of a knowledge baseof training data comprising levels of immune effector molecule from asubject with a known cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness level togenerate an algorithm which, upon input of a second knowledge base ofdata comprising levels of the same immune effector molecule from asubject with an unknown immunoresponsiveness level, provides an index ofprobability that predicts the nature of the cell-mediatedimmunoresponsiveness.

The term “training data” includes knowledge of levels of immune effectormolecule relative to a control wherein the immune effector molecule isdetermined after exposure of lymphocytes at least two sets of peptides,a first set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 aminoacid residues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptideof from 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass allor part of a protein antigen. A “control” includes a comparison tolevels of immune effector molecule in a subject with “normal”immunoresponsiveness or may be a statistically determined level based ontrials.

Hence, the term “training data” includes levels of an immune effectormolecule.

The levels or concentrations of the immune effector molecule provide theinput test data referred to herein as a “second knowledge base of data”.The second knowledge base of data either is considered relative to acontrol or is fed into an algorithm generated by a “first knowledge baseof data” which comprise information of the levels of an immune effectorin a subject with a known immunological status. The second knowledgebase of data is from a subject of unknown status with respect to cellmediated immunoresponsiveness. The output of the algorithm or thecomparison to a control is a probability or risk factor, referred toherein as “an index of probability”, of a subject having a certain levelof immunoresponsiveness or immunosuppressive.

Data generated from the levels of immune effector molecule are inputdata. The input of data comprising the immune effector levels iscompared with a control or is put into the algorithm which provides arisk value of the likelihood that the subject has, for example, animmunosuppressive condition. A treatment regime can also be monitored toascertain the presence of any immunosuppression. A level ofimmunosuppression may increase the risk of a subject getting a secondaryinfection or having a relapse (e.g. during cancer therapy or treatmentof a pathogenic infection).

As described above, methods for diagnosing an immunoresponsiveness orimmunosuppressive condition by determining the extent to which a subjectcan mount an innate and/or adaptive immune response via a level of animmune effector molecule provides a second knowledge base data in analgorithm generated with first knowledge base data or levels of the sameeffector molecule in subjects with a known immune status. Also providedare methods of detecting immunoresponsiveness comprising determining thepresence and/or velocity of an immune effector molecule followingstimulation of the innate and/or adaptive immune system in a subject'ssample. By “velocity” it is meant the change in the concentration of theeffector molecule in a subject's sample over time.

As indicated above, the term “sample” as used herein means any samplecontaining one or more lymphocytes including, but not limited to, wholeblood, a whole blood fraction, tissue extracts and freshly harvestedcells.

The method of the subject disclosure may be used in the diagnosis andstaging of a disease. The present disclosure may also be used to monitorthe progression of a condition and to monitor whether a particulartreatment is effective or not. In particular, the method can be used tomonitor immunosuppression following surgery, cancer therapy or other ormedication or exposure to toxicants.

In an embodiment, the subject disclosure contemplates a method formonitoring for immunosuppression in a subject, comprising:

-   -   (a) providing a sample from a subject;    -   (b) determining the level of an immune effector molecule        following stimulation by at least two sets of peptides, a first        set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino        acid residues in length and a second set comprising at least one        peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides        encompass all or part of a protein antigen;        wherein the level of the immune effector relative to a control        provides a correlation to the state of cell-mediated        immunoresponsiveness and subjecting the levels to an algorithm        to provide an index of probability of the subject having a        certain level of immunoresponsiveness; and    -   (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) at a later point in time and        comparing the result of step (b) with the result of step (c)        wherein a difference in the index of probability is indicative        of the progression of the condition in the subject.

Reference to an “algorithm” or “algorithmic functions” as outlined aboveincludes the performance of a univariate or multivariate analysisfunction. A range of different architectures and platforms may beimplemented in addition to those described above. It will be appreciatedthat any form of architecture suitable for implementing the presentdisclosure may be used. However, one beneficial technique is the use ofdistributed architectures. In particular, a number of end stations maybe provided at respective geographical locations. This can increase theefficiency of the system by reducing data bandwidth costs andrequirements, as well as ensuring that if one base station becomescongested or a fault occurs, other end stations could take over. Thisalso allows load sharing or the like, to ensure access to the system isavailable at all times.

In this case, it would be necessary to ensure that the base stationcontains the same information and signature such that different endstations can be used.

It will also be appreciated that in one example, the end stations can behand-held devices, such as PDAs, mobile phones, or the like, which arecapable of transferring the subject data to the base station via acommunications network such as the Internet, and receiving the reports.

In the above aspects, the term “data” means the levels or concentrationsof the immune effector following stimulation by a series of overlappingpeptides from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length whichencompass the entire length of a protein antigen. The “communicationsnetwork” includes the internet and mobile telephone network andtelephone land line. When a server is used, it is generally a clientserver or more particularly a simple object application protocol (SOAP).

One aspect of the present disclosure includes experiments thatdemonstrate the cell-mediated immune responsiveness of a subject bymeasuring responsiveness to at least two sets of peptides, a first setcomprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen. In an embodiment, one or more samples such asa sample of peripheral blood, of enriched white cell fraction of bloodor bronchoalveolar lavage may be obtained from a subject having orsuspected of development of a particular disease (e.g. autoimmunedisease, infection to a pathogenic agent or exposure to a proteinaceoustoxicant) and the immune responsiveness measured by determination ofeffector molecules from effector T-cells (e.g. CD4⁺ T-cells and CD8⁺T-cells).

The immunobinding methods include methods for detecting or quantifyingthe amount of a reactive component in a sample, which methods requirethe detection or quantitation of any immune complexes formed during thebinding process. Here, one would obtain a sample suspected of containinga cytokine following stimulation of lymphocytes by at least two sets ofpeptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprising at leastone peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptidesencompass all or part of a protein antigen and contacting the samplewith an antibody and then detecting or quantifying the amount of immunecomplexes formed under the specific conditions.

Contacting the chosen biological sample with the antibody underconditions effective and for a period of time sufficient to allow theformation of immune complexes (primary immune complexes) is generally amatter of adding the composition to the sample and incubating themixture for a period of time long enough for the antibodies to formimmune complexes with, i.e. to bind to, any effector molecules present.After this time, the sample-antibody composition, such as a tissuesection, ELISA plate, ELISpot, dot blot or Western blot, will generallybe washed to remove any non-specifically bound antibody species,allowing only those antibodies specifically bound within the primaryimmune complexes to be detected.

In a particular embodiment, the present disclosure teaches a method fordetecting the presence, absence, level or stage of a disease orcondition in a human subject, the method comprising contacting wholeblood, which comprises at least 10% of the total volume in a reactionmixture, with at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising atleast one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in lengthand a second set comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acidresidues or greater which peptides encompass all or part of a proteinantigen and measuring the presence or elevation in the level of animmune effector molecule from T-cells wherein the presence or level ofthe immune effector molecule is indicative of the disease or condition.

In a further embodiment, the present disclosure enables kits for usewith the methods described above. In one embodiment, an immunodetectionkit is contemplated. In another embodiment, a kit for analysis of asample from a subject having or suspected of developing a metal orchemically-induced disease is contemplated. In a more particularembodiment, a kit for analysis of a sample from a subject having orsuspected of developing a disease is contemplated. In an embodiment, akit is for assessing the cell-mediated immune responsiveness of asubject before or after a disease state has developed or before or aftera subject is given a medicament or is exposed to a toxicant orpollutant. If an antigen is also employed, the kit may also comprise aparticular antigen.

The immunodetection reagents of the kit may take any one of a variety offorms, including those detectable labels that are associated with orlinked to the given antibody or antigen, and detectable labels that areassociated with or attached to a secondary binding ligand. Exemplarysecondary ligands are those secondary antibodies that have bindingaffinity for the first antibody or antigen, and secondary antibodiesthat have binding affinity for a human antibody.

Further suitable immunodetection reagents for use in the present kitsinclude the two-component reagent that comprises a secondary antibodythat has binding affinity for the first antibody or antigen, along witha third antibody that has binding affinity for the second antibody, thethird antibody being linked to a detectable label.

The kits may further comprise a suitably aliquoted composition ofantigen or effector molecule, whether labeled or unlabeled, as may beused to prepare a standard curve for a detection assay.

The kits may contain antibody-label conjugates either in fullyconjugated form, in the form of intermediates, or as separate moietiesto be conjugated by the user of the kit. The components of the kits maybe packaged either in aqueous media or in lyophilized form.

The container means of any of the kits generally includes at least onevial, test tube, flask, bottle, syringe or other container means, intowhich the testing agent, the antibody or antigen may be placed, andgenerally, suitably aliquoted. Where a second or third binding ligand oradditional component is provided, the kit will also generally contain asecond, third or other additional container into which this ligand orcomponent may be placed. The kits taught by the present disclosure alsotypically include a means for containing the antibody, peptides derivedfrom an antigen and any other reagent containers in close confinementfor commercial sale. Such containers may include injection orblow-molded plastic containers into which the desired vials areretained.

Also contemplated herein is an improved assay to detect a cell-mediatedimmune response or the level thereof in a subject, the assay comprisingincubating lymphocytes from the subject with an antigen and detectingfor the presence of or elevation in effector molecules, the improvementcomprising incubating the lymphocytes with at least two sets ofpeptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprising at leastone peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater which peptidesencompass all or part of a protein antigen.

The present disclosure further provides a method of treatment of asubject having a pathogenic infection, an autoimmune disorder or canceror a propensity for developing such a condition or disorder, the methodcomprising contacting a source of lymphocytes from the subject with atleast two sets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptideof from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second setcomprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues orgreater which peptides encompass all or part of a protein antigen andmeasuring the presence or elevation in the level of an immune effectormolecule from T-cells wherein the presence or level of the immuneeffector molecule is indicative of the level of cell-mediatedresponsiveness of the subject which is indicative of the presence,absence, level or state of the condition or disorder and then treatingthe condition or disorder.

Aspects taught herein are further described by the followingnon-limiting Examples.

Example 1 Development of Assay

Heparinized blood samples are collected into Li-Hep Vacuette [RegisteredTrade Mark] tubes (Greiner Bio-one, Germany).

Aliquots of the blood samples were incubated with at least two sets ofpeptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to14 amino acid residues in length (recognizing CD8⁺ T-cells) and a secondset comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues orgreater which peptides (recognizing CD4⁺ T-cells) encompass all or partof a protein antigen, wherein the antigen is selected from M.tuberculosis CFP10, ESAT-6, TB7.7 and TB37.6.

In some experiments, glucose is added at various concentrations to theblood before initiation of incubation.

Stimulated blood samples were incubated for 1 to 48 hours including16-24 hours in the presence of the antigen peptides at 37° C., afterwhich plasma was harvested from above the settled blood cells. Theamount of IFN-γ present in each plasma sample was then quantified usingthe Quantiferon-TB [Registered Trade Mark] ELISA (Cellestis Limited,Australia) as per the manufacturer's instructions. Sample IFN-γ wasalternatively quantified using the more sensitive Quantiferon-TB Gold[Registered Trade Mark] ELISA (Cellestis Limited, Australia) as per themanufacturer's instructions.

ELISA optical density values for IFN-γ standards run on each ELISA platewere used to construct a standard curve from which the amount of IFN-γpresent in each of the test plasma samples was converted to IU/mLvalues.

Example 2 Boosting Responses in the QuantiFERON-TB Tubes by the Additionof CD8⁺ TB-Specific Peptides to the CD4⁺ Peptides

These studies were carried out in a group of patients with a clinicallyconfirmed active tuberculosis infection. Patients were tested with thecurrent QuantiFERON-TB In-Tube diagnostic test. The QuantiFERON-TB tubecontains peptide pools specific for CD4⁺ T-cells (>15 mer peptides).Patients were also tested using a modified tube in which pools ofpeptides specific for CD8⁺ T-cells had been added (10 mer peptides).These additional peptides were tested as a complete pool of 91 peptides,and as two smaller pools. These pools were also added to QuantiFERON-Niltubes as controls to assess background responses to these peptidesalone.

In the patients with active TB disease, adding the CD8⁺ peptides to theQuantiFERON-TB tubes resulted in a 10% increase in sensitivity comparedto the current QuantiFERON-TB test.

Example 3 Diagnosis of TB Using CF10 Peptide Pools

The aim of this Example was to test whether TB antigens, designed to berecognized by CD8⁺ T-cells (10 mer peptides), are able to induce theproduction of detectable levels of IFN-γ in blood from patients with anactive TB infection. It was proposed that the use of MHC classI-restricted peptides (termed “CD8⁺ peptides”) alone, or in conjunctionwith the current peptides, would improve the sensitivity of thediagnosis of TB. This is particularly relevant in HIV-infectedindividuals who have reduced numbers of CD4⁺ T-cells.

A total of 91 peptides, each 10 amino acids in length, covering theentire length of the CFP10 Mtbprotein were pooled together in threepools. Pool 1 contained all 91 peptides, Pool 2 contained peptidescovering the first half of the CFP10 protein (peptides 1-45) and Pool 3contained peptides covering the second half of the CFP10 protein(peptides 46-91). Pools were tested alone (added to a Nil tube) or incombination with the current QFT-TB Gold antigen tube.

In total, 63 patients were recruited. Of these, 50 patients testedpositive to the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube test. 31 patients wererecruited who had active TB disease confirmed by culture (or clinicalsymptoms in one case) and 19 patients recruited were TB suspects.

Patient Information:

TB disease: 31 (one not confirmed by culture)

TB suspects: 19

HHC: 13

Total # of patients: 63

The results are shown in Table 3 through 7 and in FIG. 1 and show thequalitative results for peptide pools tested in combination with aQFT-TB Gold antigen tube.

TABLE 3 Patients with TB disease (n = 31): QFT-TB Gold Pool 1 Pool 2Pool 3 Indeterminate 0 0 0 0 Negative 3 0 1 0 Positive 28 31 30 31Sensitivity 90% 100% 97% 100%

TABLE 4 TB suspects (n = 19): QFT-TB Gold Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3Indeterminate 0 0 0 0 Negative 9 7 6 7 Positive 10 12 13 12

TABLE 5 HHC Patients (n = 3): QFT-TB Gold Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3Indeterminate 0 0 0 0 Negative 0 0 0 0 Positive 3 3 3 3

A quantitative analysis was performed to examine the effects of addingthe pools of CD8⁺ peptides to existing tubes of CD4⁺ peptides, withregard to boosting the IFN-γ response, in comparison to the QFT-TB Goldantigen tube alone. A boost in the IFN-γ response was defined as anincrease >1.5 fold of the QFN TB result. Evaluable patients excludethose with a response that converted/reverted or where not all plasmasamples were quantifiable. FIG. 1 indicates the mean IFN-γ response tothe QFT-TB alone or in combination with each pool.

TABLE 6 Evaluable Patients with TB disease (n = 24): Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool3 Boost (>1.5x QFN TB result) 17 20 19 No boost 6 4 5 % Boost (ofevaluable patients) 74% 83% 79%

TABLE 7 Evaluable TB suspects (n = 6): Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3 Boost (>1.5xQFN TB result) 0 0 0 No boost 6 6 6 % Boost (of evaluable patients) 0%0% 0%

These data indicate that the addition of the CD8⁺ peptides to thecurrent QFT-TB Gold In Tube assay (which contains CD4⁺ peptides) resultsin a 10% increase in assay sensitivity. Furthermore, the data indicatethat an increase in response magnitude (“boost”) of greater than1.5-fold resulting from the addition of the CD8 peptides is onlyapparent when the assay is performed on patient samples derived fromsubjects with confirmed active TB-disease. These data indicate that theaddition of CD8 peptides to the current QFT-TB Gold In Tube assaydifferentiates between subjects with active versus latent TB disease.

Example 4 Effect of CFP10 CD8⁺ Peptides on Assay Specificity

The aim of this Example was to investigate if the addition of the CFP10CD8⁺ peptides to the QFT-TB Gold tube results in a reduction in theassay specificity. Therefore, peptide pools were used in conjunctionwith the QFT-TB Gold In Tube assay (which contain CD4⁺ peptides) in apopulation of healthy control donors recruited from a country with lowTB incidence (Melbourne, Australia).

A total of 91 peptides, each 10 amino acids in length, covering theentire length of the CFP10 Mtbprotein were pooled together in threepools. Pool 1 contained peptides covering the first half of the CFP10protein (peptides 1-45), Pool 2 contained peptides covering the secondhalf of the CFP10 protein (peptides 46-91) and Pool 3 contained all 91peptides.

In total, 92 subjects were recruited. Of these, 3 subjects testedpositive to the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tube test. No QFT-TB negativesubjects showed a response to any of the peptide pools. The results areshown in Tables 8 and 9.

TABLE 8 QFT-TB Gold Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3 Indeterminate 0 0 0 0 Negative89 89 89 89 Positive 3 3 3 3

Of the 3 QFT-TB positive donors, no boost in the IFN-γ response wasobserved with the addition of the peptide pools (increase >1.5 fold ofthe QFN TB result).

TABLE 9 Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3 Boost (>1.5x QFN TB result) 0 0 0 No boost3 3 3 % Boost (of evaluable patients) 0% 0% 0%

These data indicate that the addition of the CD8⁺ peptides to thecurrent QFT-TB Gold In Tube assay does not negatively impact the assayspecificity.

Example 5 Combination of CMV 16 Mer CD4⁺ with Peptide CD8⁺ Peptides in aQFT-CMV Assay

This Example investigated whether if the addition of the CD8⁺ peptidesenhanced the response in a QFT-CMV assay using a 16 mer peptide from theCMV antigen pp65.

Blood from three healthy donors, with a positive CMV serology result,was used in the QFT-CMV assay with the addition of 1) a Nil tubecontaining 1 μg/ml (final concentration) of the 16-mer peptide, and 2) aQFT-CMV tube with the addition of 1 μg/ml (final concentration) of the16-mer peptide. The assay was performed according to the manufacturer'sinstructions.

0/3 donors responded to the 16-mer peptide alone. 3/3 donors respondedto the 16 mer+CD8⁺-peptides in the QFT-CMV assay. The results are showngraphically in FIG. 1 below.

No response to the 16 mer peptide was observed in any donor. All donorsshowed a positive response to the 16 mer peptide in combination with theCD8⁺ peptides in the QFT-CMV assay.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that aspects of the subjectmatter described. It is to be understood that the disclosure encompassesall such variations and modifications. The disclosure also includes allof the steps, features, compositions and compounds referred to orindicated in this specification, individually or collectively, and anyand all combinations of any two or more of the steps or features.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. A method for measuring cell-mediated immune response activity in asubject, said method comprising contacting a sample comprisinglymphocytes from the subject with at least two sets of peptides, a firstset comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater, which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen; and measuring presence or elevation in levelof an immune effector molecule from immune cells, wherein the presenceor level of the immune effector molecule is indicative of a level ofcell-mediated responsiveness of the subject.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein the subject is a human.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the 7to 14 amino acid peptides are recognized by CD8⁺ lymphocytes and the 16amino acid or greater peptides are recognized by CD4⁺ lymphocytes. 4.The method of claim 1 wherein the sample is undiluted whole blood. 5.The method of claim 4 wherein the sample is whole blood which comprisesfrom about 10% to 100% by volume of a sample to be assayed.
 6. Themethod of claim 5 wherein the whole blood comprises from about 50% to100% by volume of the sample to be assayed.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein the whole blood comprises from about 80% to 100% by volume ofthe sample to be assayed.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the samplecomprises whole blood that has been collected in a tube comprisingheparin.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the immune effector moleculeis a cytokine.
 10. The method of claim 11 wherein the cytokine is IFN-γ.11. The method of claim 1 wherein measuring comprises detecting theimmune effector molecule with an antibody that is specific for theimmune effector molecule.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the immuneeffector molecule is detected by ELISA.
 13. The method of claim 12wherein the immune effector molecule is detected by ELISpot.
 14. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the subject has an infection by a pathogenicagent selected from Mycobacterium species, Staphylococcus species,Streptococcus species, Borrelia species, Escherichia coli, Salmonellaspecies, Clostridium species, Shigella species, Proteus species,Bacillus species, Herpes virus, Hepatitis B or C virus and Human immunedeficiency virus (HIV) or a disease or condition resulting therefrom.15. The method of claim 14 wherein the disease or condition is aninfection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis or tuberculosis (TB).
 16. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the protein antigen is selected from CFP10,ESAT-6, TB7.7 and TB37.6.
 17. The method of claim 1 wherein the subjecthas a disease condition selected from alopecia areata, ankylosingspondylitis, antiphospholipid syndrome, autoimmune Addison's diseasemultiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease of the adrenal gland, autoimmunehemolytic anemia, autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune oophoritis andorchitis, Behcet's disease, bullous pemphigoid, cardiomyopathy, celiacsprue-dermatitis, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFIDS), chronic inflammatorydemyelinating, chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, Churg-Strausssyndrome, cicatricial pemphigoid, crest syndrome, cold agglutinindisease, Crohn's disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, discoid lupus,essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, fibromyalgia, glomerulonephritis,Grave's disease, Guillain-Barre, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, idiopathicpulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), IgAnephropathy, insulin dependent diabetes (Type I), lichen planus, lupus,Meniere's disease, mixed connective tissue disease, multiple sclerosis,myasthenia gravis, myocarditis, pemphigus vulgaris, pernicious anemia,polyarteritis nodosa, polychondritis, polyglancular syndromes,polymyalgia rheumatica, polymyositis and dermatomyositis, primaryagammaglobulinemia, primary biliary cirrhosis, psoriasis, Raynaud'sphenomenon, Reiter's syndrome, rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arrthritis,sarcoidosis, scleroderma, Sjogren's syndrome, stiff-man syndrome,systemic lupus erythematosus, Takayasu arteritis, temporalarteritis/gianT-cell arteritis, ulcerative colitis, uveitis, vasculitis,vitiligo and inflammatory bowel disease.
 18. The method of claim 17wherein the disease is celiac disease.
 19. The method of claim 18wherein the disease is autoimmune diabetes.
 20. The method of claim 1wherein the subject has a cancer selected from ABL1 protooncogene, AIDSrelated cancer, acoustic neuroma, acute lymphocytic leukaemia, acutemyeloid leukaemia, adenocystic carcinoma, adrenocortical cancer,agnogenic myeloid metaplasia, alopecia, alveolar soft-part sarcoma, analcancer, angiosarcoma, aplastic anaemia, astrocytoma,ataxia-telangiectasia, basal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, bonecancers, bowel cancer, brain stem glioma, a brain or CNS tumors, breastcancer, carcinoid tumor, cervical cancer, childhood brain tumor,childhood cancer, childhood leukaemia, childhood soft tissue sarcoma,chondrosarcoma, choriocarcinoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, chronicmyeloid leukaemia, colorectal cancer, cutaneous T-Cell lymphoma,dermatofibrosarcoma-protuberans, desmoplastic-small-round-cell-tumor,ductal carcinoma, endocrine cancer, endometrial cancer, ependymoma,esophageal cancer, Ewing's sarcoma, extra-hepatic bile duct cancer, eyecancer, melanoma, retinoblastoma, fallopian tube cancer, fanconi anemia,fibrosarcoma, gall bladder cancer, gastric cancer, gastrointestinalcancer, gastrointestinal-carcinoid-tumor, genitourinary cancer, germcell tumor, gestational-trophoblastic-disease, glioma, gynaecologicalcancer, hematological malignancy, hairy cell leukaemia, head and neckcancer, hepatocellular cancer, hereditary breast cancer, histiocytosis,Hodgkin's disease, human papillomavirus, hydatidiform mole,hypercalcemia, hypopharynx cancer, intraocular melanoma, islet cellcancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, kidney cancer, Langerhan's-cell-histiocytosis,laryngeal cancer, leiomyosarcoma, leukemia, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, lipcancer, liposarcoma, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphedema, lymphoma,Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, male breast cancer,malignant-rhabdoid-tumor-of-kidney, medulloblastoma, melanoma, merkelcell cancer, mesothelioma, metastatic cancer, mouth cancer, multipleendocrine neoplasia, mycosis fungoides, myelodysplastic syndromes,myeloma, myeloproliferative disorders, nasal cancer, nasopharyngealcancer, nephroblastoma, neuroblastoma, neurofibromatosis, nijmegenbreakage syndrome, non-melanoma skin cancer,non-small-cell-lung-cancer-(NSCLC), ocular cancer, oesophageal cancer,oral cavity cancer, oropharynx cancer, osteosarcoma, ostomy ovariancancer, pancreas cancer, paranasal cancer, parathyroid cancer, parotidgland cancer, penile cancer, peripheral-neuroectodermal-tumor, pituitarycancer, polycythemia vera, prostate cancer,rare-cancer-and-associated-disorder, renal cell carcinoma,retinoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Rothmund-Thomson syndrome, salivarygland cancer, sarcoma, schwannoma, Sezary syndrome, skin cancer, smallcell lung cancer (SCLC), small intestine cancer, soft tissue sarcoma,spinal cord tumor, squamous-cell-carcinoma, stomach cancer, synovialsarcoma, testicular cancer, thymus cancer, thyroid cancer,transitional-cell-cancer, transitional-cell-cancer-trophoblastic cancer,urethral cancer, urinary system cancer, uroplakins, uterine sarcoma,uterus cancer, vaginal cancer, vulva cancer,Waldenstrom's-macroglobulinemia and Wilms' tumor.
 21. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the subject was exposed to a proteinaceous toxicant. 22.The method of claim 1 wherein the level of the cell-mediated immuneresponsiveness correlates with one or more of a state, progression andseverity of a disease condition in the subject.
 23. A method of allowinga user to determine cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness status of asubject, the method comprising: (a) receiving subject data that areprovided as levels or concentrations of an immune effector molecule inthe subject which, relative to the level or concentration of the immuneeffector molecule in a control subject, provide a correlation to a stateof cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness from the user via a communicationsnetwork, the immune effector molecule being measured after exposure oflymphocytes from the subject to at least two sets of peptides, a firstset comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acidresidues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide offrom 16 amino acid residues or greater, which peptides encompass all orpart of a protein antigen; (b) processing the subject data viaunivariate or multivariate analysis to provide an immunoresponsivenessvalue; (c) determining the cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness status ofthe subject by comparing the immunoresponsiveness value of (b) to one ormore predetermined values; and (d) transferring an indication of thecell-mediated immunoresponsiveness status of the subject to the user viathe communications network.